Abstract

The author investigates the different readings of Ibn ufayPs epistle, ayy b. Yaqan. Following a suggestion by L. Gauthier, who simply asked that the epistle should be read as a whole, the author adds alAbd al- ab r's reading, which does justice only to what Asl. This impasse in the readings of ayy b. Yaqān reveals what is missing, namely an understanding of the tale which fundamentally conforms to several of Alfarabi's teachings, though not to L. Gauthier's interpretation